While we job search and otherwise prepare for our move to Buffalo, there will be certain events to attend and locations to visit which are quintessentially Washington, DC.

Perfect example: President Barack Obama’s second inauguration took place this morning. Paul and I live not far from the National Mall (which wasn’t the case four years ago), so we knew we had to join the celebratory crowd for at least a short period of time.

While it would have been easy for us to get up early and secure a spot on the Mall, neither of us was that invested in watching the event in person. We turned on the television around 10:30am; when the President’s motorcade left the White House, we brushed our teeth, changed into warm clothes, and finally headed out the door at 11am.

There weren’t many pedestrian streets open, so we walked up 7th Street with a bunch of other people.

Our journey ended when we reached Independence Avenue (we could have made a left on Independence, but we would’ve been walking parallel to the action and not able to see anything anyway). 7th Street was supposed to be open all the way to the Mall but they had already reached max capacity. Barriers prohibited anyone else from entering the area.

(See those flag-wavers in the distance? Those dedicated, early-to-rise souls deserve to be on the other side of the barriers from us.)

We weren’t bummed. Since we left home when we did, we expected as much. We stood around for a few minutes and took a few photos to capture the moment.

It was 11:50am when we returned home and the President was just walking up to the podium for the swearing-in when we turned on the television. We were able to watch the rest of the speeches and songs from the comfort of our living room. Good timing!